Xenoblade

[VanAce]

http://wiimedia.ign.com/wii/image/article/106/1065038/nintendo-brings-major-rpgs-to-wii-20100129073305938.jpg

Was announced ages ago but there was no thread for it.

Made by Monolith and Published by Nintendo for the Wii this looks to be a good injection of core gaming for the Wii.

Apparently not a new entry Xenosaga series but still good to have some more RPGs on the Wii.

[Nic Xtreme]

Impressions from players in Japan have been positive so far. There are apparently quite a few minor issues, including poor shop layout and no ongoing story log, but overall the game is getting much love. I can't wait for it!

I hope The Last Story is at E3 too!

[9warbane]

I was googling this yesterday, after seeing that it's out in Japan now.

Wii needs more proper games.

[Allick]

Wii needs more proper games.

You've obviously never heard of this gem.

http://images.ebgames.com.au/images/packshots/141347_packshot_l.jpg

[Leirith]

Coming to Australia on September 1, is anyone going to pick this up?

[9warbane]

I'll definitely be 'obtaining' it and seeing if I like it.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

HE'S TALKIN' TEA TIME!! Down Town!

[topaz]

Coming to Australia on September 1, is anyone going to pick this up?

I'll get it eventually when the price drops to around $20-$30, like all non-first party Wii games do.

[Nic Xtreme]

Eurogamer's review is up. (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-08-15-xenoblade-chronicles-review) Seems that earlier opinions from those who had played the Japanese version from NeoGAF about it being the best JRPG this gen weren't just fanboyish remarks.

[borgster101]

I haven't played the Wii in a while, but looks like I will have to purchase this gem ... Monolith are awesome also, and it makes no sense how Nintendo aren't giving their titles a chance in the US.

[Natrak]

Keza MacDonald also gave it a sterling review for IGN UK. I'll definitely be picking it up.

[Leirith]

Yeah I read that one. The game sounds very good!

[AyatollaofRocknRolla]

I don't know where I'll find time to play such a huge game as this, but I'll definitely get it. A game that makes me want to dust off my Wii is quite rare.

[topaz]

I'll get it eventually when the price drops to around $20-$30, like all non-first party Wii games do.

Ok disregard that. I just read a bunch of reviews and I ordered it from Zavvi straight after reading them...I'm HYPED!! This better be the BESTEST JRPG of the current gen EVAR as advertised!!

And the Wii gets some playing time!

[Australian Ninja]

Still sitting on the fence about this one.

[Leirith]

I've now ordered this thing, adding yet another RPG to my stupid queue of games to play. My problem is I like the RPGs lots and playing them isn't my full time occupation.

[topaz]

I've now ordered this thing, adding yet another RPG to my stupid queue of games to play. My problem is I like the RPGs lots and playing them isn't my full time occupation.

Xenoblade punched Dragon Quest VIII, left it with a concussion, and kicked Persona 4 in the nads, to climb on top of my games-to-play queue. Best JRPG of the generation is nothing to sneeze at, I'm really eager to see just how good it is.

[Rambo]

No one has an official release date in stores! When is it coming out!?!

[borgster101]

Tomorrow.

[Rambo]

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[Leirith]

Xenoblade punched Dragon Quest VIII, left it with a concussion, and kicked Persona 4 in the nads, to climb on top of my games-to-play queue. Best JRPG of the generation is nothing to sneeze at, I'm really eager to see just how good it is.

Yeah, it's going to be awesome.

Xenoblade Chronicles takes you to the stunning lands of Bionis and Mechonis. The landscapes are vast, offering more than 100 hours of immersive gameplay.
Ahh, I'm going to have to quit my job.

[Australian Ninja]

Still sitting on the fence about this one.

Fell off, but on the good side.

Tempted to grab this now, but I need new batteries for my Wii thingo, no time to play it, and I know it's drop in price in like four weeks at zavvi.

Reckon I'll be playing it off and on for months though.

I like RPGs, but hate random battles, few good reviews etc and this game ticks all the right boxes for me.

Good to read people's comments here, you've helped convince me, so thanks forumites, (except the evil ones).

[Antwandemarco]

I've seen a few flicks of xenoblade running on Dolphin, looks amazing, especially compared to the standsard wii graphics. Hopefully my pc will run it!

And before anyone jumps down my throat, yes I'll be ripping my own retail copy :)

[Australian Ninja]

I've seen a few flicks of xenoblade running on Dolphin, looks amazing, especially compared to the standsard wii graphics. Hopefully my pc will run it!

And before anyone jumps down my throat, yes I'll be ripping my own retail copy :)

So does it upscale the graphics, add some filters or what?

I assume you are talking about what I think you are but that's just my opinion and I've been known to be wrong on more than one occassion.

[Rambo]

It upscales to 1080p. Makes the game look very pretty.

3 hours into it, there are some plot twists I wish didn't happen, but it's a great game, enjoying it immensely, and the voice acting is the best I've seen in a JRPG.

[Nic Xtreme]

Yeah, all those screenies of Xenoblade on Dolphin are amazing. Hopefully Monolith's next game will be for Wii U...

I just ordered my copy from the UK. Hooray!

[Rambo]

Why is no one talking about this :(

[AranchineD]

Because it's a shitty JRPG?

[Rambo]

Haters gonna hate.

[FF Freak]

my copy finally arrived in the mail from the UK 2 days ago. absolutely loving it however yeah there are some early plot twists that are driving me insane. Partly because based on a lot of current JRPGs there is gonna be a rather cliched plot twist that makes me feel sick to the bone.

then again I hope to be pleasantly surprised and the plot twist not being there. So Glad we got a monolith soft game out here considering I'm pretty sure Xenosaga episode 2 was the last monolith soft game to hit australian shores. correct me if I'm wrong.

[Rambo]

Either way it's very good.

Thought the combat was a little too simple, but it keeps adding new elements. And I just ran past a lvl 81 beast in the middle of a field (I'm 15 right now!). I'm going to kill him eventually, mark my words.

[ElPresidente]

Because it's a shitty JRPG?

Actually, it is a freaking exceptional JRPG.

[Rambo]

Nah man, Aran knows best ey.

[AranchineD]

Actually, it is a freaking exceptional JRPG.

So still bad by normal game standards.

[Rambo]

You could open up a butcher with all that beef, Aran.

[Natrak]

So many sidequests. :O

[topaz]

Still waiting for my copy T_T

I've visited a few JBs and EBs, and I didn't see any copies of Xenoblade on the shelves, I'm guessing most shops had very limited stock...

[Rambo]

So many sidequests. :O

But side quests that you don't have to hand in! How wicked is that! You finish it and you automatically get the xp.

This game is still hard though, got a bit easier with a 3rd char (won't say who).

[Natrak]

Yup, not having to turn most quests in is a smart touch.

[Natrak]

I'm at the point where Shulk and co. have decided to head to another colony now, the game is getting pretty awesome.

This is basically what Square's follow-up to Final Fantasy XII should have been.

[FF Freak]

5 hours in after starting again so I could finish some of the early challenge quests with 3 characters. did some exploring of the starting area and man there are level 70 mobs in colony 9.

[Rambo]

I know right! First time I tried it (not knowing their level) he 1 shot both of us! Haha, level 18 now and got the 4th symbol of the monado. Brilliant game that proves graphics aren't needed (although would make this game a 100 for me).

[FF Freak]

I agree that it proves graphics aren't everything in a game since when i first started i thought it looked like a ps2 game. Higher quality graphics though would have probable put it high 90's rather than low 90's.

[Antwandemarco]

Some examples of it running in high res for you Rambo. Looks absolutely stunning in HD

http://www.abload.de/img/dolphin2011-08-2502-3717q5.jpg

http://www.thejayzone.com/pics/xenoblade2.png

http://i.imgur.com/AlXwy.jpg

[Rambo]

That's not fair :(

[ElPresidente]

And it saves me buying myself a classic controller pro or whatever it's called.

From now on, if a Wii game doesn't require motion control I think I'll be playing it on PC.

[Rambo]

How are you playing it though? Did you buy one of those back spinny drives?

[Natrak]

And it saves me buying myself a classic controller pro or whatever it's called.

From now on, if a Wii game doesn't require motion control I think I'll be playing it on PC.

As long as you don't mind audio glitches and the like. I can't stand that sort of thing, myself, I'd rather deal with the low resolution and PS2-era jaggies.

[Rambo]

I also get little coloured spots on the screen. Is that because I'm using an aftermarket component cable?

[dinopoke]

As long as you don't mind audio glitches and the like. I can't stand that sort of thing, myself, I'd rather deal with the low resolution and PS2-era jaggies.

I think there is a certain version of the emulator that fixes the audio glitches.

[Antwandemarco]

yeah it took me a fair amount of tweaking but i now have it running with no audio glitches at 30fps. Drops to as low as 20 in hectic action scenes. And yeah, you need to get a certain build of the emulator, not hard to find with a little research.

[Antwandemarco]

How are you playing it though? Did you buy one of those back spinny drives?

You have to rip your wii disc into an iso then load it in dolphin.

Apologies for the double post..

[Zeph101]

I also get little coloured spots on the screen. Is that because I'm using an aftermarket component cable?

There are heaps of different opinions on which brand of cable to use. I played it safe and got the official product. It may not as optimising as some of those other third party cables but it gets the job done without any problems.

[Rambo]

You have to rip your wii disc into an iso then load it in dolphin.

Apologies for the double post..

Yes I realize that but most DVD drives won't actually read the Wii disc itself, because the disc are meant to be read spinning backwards, it's Nintendo's little anti-piracy measure.

[Australian Ninja]

Because it's a shitty JRPG?

Words fail me.

Will probably start Xeno after Mass Effect 1,2 and finish off Fallout 3 GOTY (game time over 100 hours, I can't finish until I hunt down every side quest.....).

[FF Freak]

Will probably start Xeno after Mass Effect 1,2 and finish off Fallout 3 GOTY (game time over 100 hours, I can't finish until I hunt down every side quest.....).

Hop you don't want to try that on Xenoblade chronicles. word has that there are over 450 sidequests in this game. I'm level 17 and still doing sidequests in the starting area.

[Slippery]

Seriously just don't know that I even enjoy JRPGs anymore. Sure I liked Tales of Symphonia on GCube, but that was years ago. Feel like I've probably grown out of them.

[Rambo]

That's what I thought, but when I started playing this game, I found the joy of good story telling and little features that make it easy.

Save anywhere you want
Fast travel anytime (just before a boss and wanna make/buy more items or just wanna level up?)
Pause during cut scenes
A 'Story Memo' Tells you exactly where you are in the story and where to go
You can jump of cliffs, there are also platforming elements too
When you die, there is no game over screen, you reappear at your last 'landmark'

It's just created really well, with all this its still challenging too!

[ElPresidente]

Indeed, don't let prior JRPG experience close you off from experiencing this game. It's truly a marvel. First time a non-SMT JRPG has had me really excited in a very long time. And while I wouldn't recommend an SMT game to someone who was feeling their love for the genre fade I would certainly recommend Xenoblade Chronicles.

[Slippery]

Persona 4 Endurance Run was pretty sweet. Hmm I'll see how much this baddy costs and wether I can Dolphin it.

[Antwandemarco]

Yes I realize that but most DVD drives won't actually read the Wii disc itself, because the disc are meant to be read spinning backwards, it's Nintendo's little anti-piracy measure.

There's programs that let you do it with a regular dvd burner. Have a look around :)

Also i second prez's above post. I thought that i would never play a jrpg again. I think the last one i enjoyed before this was Lost Odyssey and even that irritated me somewhat. After FF13 i thought the genre was completely dead. Seriously **** that game.

[borgster101]

I've bought it but haven't started it yet ... after reading these posts ... think I'm going to have to push it up the backlog list!! :D

[Natrak]

Get on it right away, for sure. The hype is absolutely justified.

[Antwandemarco]

Haven't moved the story forward in ages. Have been busy doing side quests. I now have colony nine up to three stars. There is a ridiculous amount to do. I like the way little mini stories play out over the side quests.

The areas are phenomenal. Particularly Bionis Leg. What a play area. Hoping that there is something to trump it later on :)

[Emilbus]

The story seems to be picking up after Colony 6. How long is the main story for anyone that has finished it? I've been going back and forth between doing side missions and advancing the main story..about 13 hrs in and just finished Colony 6.

[Rambo]

I'm about 10 hours in and I'm on my way to the Bionis head!

I bet I'll run into a hard as shit boss in the near future.

[borgster101]

Yep I started it ... pretty cool, has me engaged :)

[Zeph101]

This game has some typical JRPG elements I'm not too fond of but it more than makes up for it through the steps it's taken to try and revitalise the genre.

I also love that nite music in the outer areas of colony 9. It reminds me of some of the tracks used during the animated guide entries in the 1981 'hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy' tv series.

[Slippery]

Bought it and played 2.5 hours, I'm at the first dungeon(?) Tephra Cave. Did so many sidequests that I'm already level 11.
Managed to find some level 35 monsters which is a bit odd... Liking the battle mechanics and that there are (so far) none of the shitty jrpg tropes I dislike, including a lack of whiny characters.
So far so good!

[Antwandemarco]

My only problem with this game is that i love sidequests too much and i'm now ridiculously overpowered. Running around at least 5 levels higher than anything in the new area i'm in.

[Natrak]

I found I was pretty overpowered throughout Bionis' Leg and the Ether mines, the game seems to have caught up with me in Satori Marsh, though. I'm still levels higher than most mobs, but there are far more enemies that appear with a blue label than there were before. I've also been killed a couple of times by those unique Ignas surrounded by more standard ones.

[Slippery]

I thought I was overlevelled in that cave but a unique the same level as me kept kicking my arse, took a fair few goes.

The text is really hard to read on my old arse crt, and I'm pretty sure plugged into a 46" lcd it'll look a very different kind of arse, might just have to bear with it.

[Rambo]

The text is readable on both my 42" plasma and 23" monitor.

I've finally got another person in my party (don't want to spoil who it is) but I'm on the Bionis back heading up to the head.

The storyline keeps getting better though.

I'm only using the same 3 party members Shulk, Reyn and the bitch that shoots heal bullets because other wise I die WAY to quick versing large mobs.

[Slippery]

We are off on a journey to Colony 6 to go find out about the Mechon with a face and claws which I totally expect to have something to do with the guy who had claws in the intro and ran off, but don't confirm or deny that for me!

But first we'll turn around and spend a few hours doing sidequests in that place we just left, found a few level 70's, I think one was unique, tad weird. What level should I be heading off? I'm level 14 now which is probably fine - I did hear about a dude who got to 22 before he left but that's a tad ridiculous.

[fishfishmonkeyhat]

Now I know there's claws.

:(

[SOX]

http://i.imgur.com/OZpug.gif

[Rambo]

Yeah don't worry about leveling up too much. The game will tell you when you need to level up, and you can just run around the area before a boss or something.

[Slippery]

Dunno that I'm enjoying this as much as I thought I would. Heading off to Colony 6 to rescue the worst named character... so far.

[topaz]

The text is really hard to read on my old arse crt, and I'm pretty sure plugged into a 46" lcd it'll look a very different kind of arse, might just have to bear with it.

I bought a Wii component cable from eBay just for this game, it's great for $5. I usually have the Wii connected to a CRT too, but I heard about the tiny text issue so decided to hook it up to my HDTV instead.

[BB2K]

this finally arrived from zavvi today. I might play it soon.

[BB2K]

played about half an hour. the combat system is pretty cool.

[BB2K]

looks like a complete turd on a hdtv with component cables. the actual game is great though.

[BB2K]

couldn't stand the english voice acting either. ****ing horrible.

luckily the option to switch it to japanese is there.

[Slippery]

Reyn's voice and the Mechon voices are pretty annoying.

[AranchineD]

couldn't stand the english voice acting either. ****ing horrible.

luckily the option to switch it to japanese is there.

galotw

[BB2K]

bro the only other non-pokemon jrpg that i actually like is chrono trigger

but the english voice acting in this is just atrocious

[dinopoke]

Aran, you do not understand the joys of listening to your favourite kawaii seiyuu.

[Rambo]

Just got a little dude in the party. What a ****ing tank!

[Emilbus]

Oh damn, just when i thought it was going to end, it just keeps going! I think i'm heading towards the home stretch, but at this rate, i can't be sure. Quite a few WTF moment..i'm usually pretty good at guessing plots but they just keep throwing curve ball after curve ball.

[BB2K]

This is probably my goty so far

pretty shit year tbh

[Slippery]

I haven't done a story quest for ages; at around 12.5 hours playtime I'm doing Colony 6 sidequests before they dissapear. Making everyine happy is surprisingly addictive but I can't find some of the moneters I'm supposed to kill/get shit from.

[Emilbus]

I wish this game had some kind of quest waypoint specifically for when you are trying to return the quest. Really annoying trying to track down some npc especially in some of the big city hubs.

[Rambo]

This is probably my goty so far

pretty shit year tbh

You're still enjoying though aren't you :)

Underneath all that manliness, there's a Shulk lover and you know it.

[BB2K]

this is a really, really good game, i just meant that i haven't played anything from this year that was all that good, so it doesn't have much competition

[Rambo]

Oh good :)

Getting closer to the bionis head :D

[Leirith]

I got stuck into this over the weekend and I'm hooked. That I'm hooked despite the unfortunate circumstances where the lead character's best options for armor for an hour or two were swimming oil and swimming trunks, making it very hard to take the dramatic dialogue seriously, says something about the engrossing gameplay.

[Rambo]

Wait till you get the jungle head armor for Reyn. He looks like a douche bag.

[Rambo]

Annndd I'm stuck at lvl 40 trying to gain access to Prison Island.

Wow, this is the hardest the game has been.

[Slippery]

I'm like 27, overlevelled, and just got the quest to head towards Prison Island... guess it's going to take a while!

[Rambo]

Yeah that's a huge chunk of gameplay getting there that's fo sho.

[Slippery]

Does affinity/ heart-to-hearts get you anything or is it just fleshing out the characters? Doing sidequests as Dunban to get affinity up with the other two since I'm sure I'll do all the main stuff with Shulk.

Pretty minor (and obvious) spoiler but hey I'm not in the business of pissing people off

[Emilbus]

Higher Affinity with each character also gives you more slots in the skill tree that you can share.

[Slippery]

Ahh yes forgot about that, haven't shared a single skill yet...

[Leirith]

I got so swept up in side quests that I forgot why we're headed for Colony 6. Why?

[Slippery]

Open that bottom menu thing and press R and it should tell you what is going on in the story, but basically if Mechon attacked Colony 9 they probably attacked Colony 6 so better go check shit out and see if they know where metal face is.

[Leirith]

Haha thanks, that sounds familiar!

[Rambo]

Does affinity/ heart-to-hearts get you anything or is it just fleshing out the characters? Doing sidequests as Dunban to get affinity up with the other two since I'm sure I'll do all the main stuff with Shulk.

Pretty minor (and obvious) spoiler but hey I'm not in the business of pissing people off

Get used to using other people, because I was stuck for a while because you meet enemies that the Monado can't hurt.

[Leirith]

So Arda needs some "Medicinal Herb Tonic" or her ailment will keep getting worse? Sounds like a stoner to me. :D

[Antwandemarco]

Just reached sword valley. Feel like i must be getting pretty far through now. It's nice to be in a futuristic questing area.

Have decided to not actively do any more sidequests that aren't timed..

[Slippery]

I'm in Makna Forest after just getting to the nopon village and haven't played for a few days... :S

[Nic Xtreme]

Goddamn this game is addictive, if only I could pause life and sit and play this for days on end. Plus the way the game is structured makes everything so user friendly!

My three (picky) complaints so far: gems don't automatically unequip when changing armour/accessories, there needs to be fast access between a quest involving a member of the community and either their entry into that social dictionary thing (for easy access to their location and times of availability as well as a list inside that social dictionary of each person's trade goods would be handy, too.

[Starscream]

^ Finally arrived?

[Nic Xtreme]

Haha, yep, Day 22.

[Starscream]

I don't if has been mentioned in this thread, but there was Xenoblade Chronicles bundled released with red classic controller plus. :(

[FF Freak]

I don't if has been mentioned in this thread, but there was Xenoblade Chronicles bundled released with red classic controller plus. :(

yeah I imported that version from the UK because it supposedly wan't getting an Aus release.

[Starscream]

yeah I imported that version from the UK because it supposedly wan't getting an Aus release.

With the import version, was the the soundtrack CD also included?

I was in GAME yesterday and noticed the local release included the soundtrack CD.

[Australian Ninja]

Goddamn this game is addictive, if only I could pause life and sit and play this for days on end. Plus the way the game is structured makes everything so user friendly!

My three (picky) complaints so far: gems don't automatically unequip when changing armour/accessories, there needs to be fast access between a quest involving a member of the community and either their entry into that social dictionary thing (for easy access to their location and times of availability as well as a list inside that social dictionary of each person's trade goods would be handy, too.

Yep, I keep waiting for someone to invent that pause button.

Maybe when the matrix gets up and running, then we will be be able to pause life to play awesome games such as this one. On the down side, everything will taste like chicken, but who needs to eat when you have games to play anyway?

[Pai Mel]

7eet gamers can eat and play at teh same time, plus suck beer out of a tube from a backpack.

[Starscream]

7eet gamers can eat and play at teh same time, plus suck beer out of a tube from a backpack.

Since Xenoblade got a PAL(!) release, they'll need more beer because it looks like The Last Story and Pandora's Tower are going to be localised for PAL(!) countries sometime next year.

Still want my Fatal Frame/Project Zero Wii games though. :(

[Australian Ninja]

7eet gamers can eat and play at teh same time, plus suck beer out of a tube from a backpack.

I think you mean greasy gamers.

[ireadtabloids]

I'm still yet to see a copy anywhere in stores. Hmm... I might have to look online for this one.

[Starscream]

I'm still yet to see a copy anywhere in stores. Hmm... I might have to look online for this one.

Try JB and GAME.

$50 at GAME sale.

Was around $41 to import from UK last week according to ozbargain.